After passing a horrific accident involving a motorcycle rider, my mind started racing a mile a minute. Since Suzuki is one of the biggest names in motorcycles, I shared my thoughts with them…
Dear Biker Dudes:
Suzuki is a fun name to say. Does it translate to anything special? If I ever married a Japanese woman and had children, I would have considered naming him or her Suzuki. I read that every fourth child born in the world is Chinese, so you have some catching up to do there. My parents had three children, but unfortunately stopped there. Too bad, it would have been a blast having an Asian brother or sister.
Riding a motorcycle can be dangerous at times, especially in a big city. I assume you’re doing everything possible to keep riders safe, but there’s something you might be overlooking. Those stylish Suzuki motorcycle jackets you make rock! Why not turn them into jacket air bags? If the motorcycle hits a foreign object, or vice versa, the jacket would inflate, turning the rider into a human Michelin Man surrounded by protection. The fallen rider would then safely “bounce” down the highway rather than eat asphalt and tie up traffic.
If you think there’s any merit to this idea, can you please consider sending one of those cool blue and silver nitrous colored Suzuki jackets in a medium?
Very Suzukily yours,
“Me”
A Regional Service Administrator responded with:
Thank you for your recent letter to American Suzuki Motor Corporation regarding the Suzuki family name and your compliments about our Genuine Suzuki motorcycle jackets. We are always glad to hear from our consumers and enthusiasts.
Your letter indicated that the idea of adding an air bag system to our motorcycle jackets, similar to the air bags in an automobile, might be a valuable safety feature to consider. We thank you for your suggestion and have documented this for our permanent records.
Unfortunately, American Suzuki is unable to honor your request for a free motorcycle jacket. However, you may purchase a jacket through any authorized Suzuki dealership. You may also view and purchase Genuine Suzuki accessories online at www.suzukicycles.com. If you enter your zip code into the dealer locator, our website will also provide you with your closest Suzuki dealership’s contact information.
Once again, thank you for contacting American Suzuki. If you have any questions or wish to discuss your suggestion further, please contact me at your convenience. I can be reached at (contact information followed).
Final Thoughts: I’m not sure if motorcycle jacket air bags will ever hit the streets, but if they do, you may have heard it here first. Some ideas are ahead of their time. On second thought, this one may actually be little behind its time. Maybe by only fractions of a second though considering that air bags open on impact. Perhaps adding a ripcord can help quick-thinking riders. Well, I’ll leave that to the experts at Suzuki, whom I hope will remember to thank me in the form of royalty payments should the idea ever get off the ground.
It was kind of Suzuki to permanently document my suggestion and offer to discuss it further. Not many companies are open to accepting ideas from outsiders, especially in an informal letter. Many never respond. Some return the letter, say they didn’t read it and write that they don’t accept unsolicited ideas (although I’m not sure how they know it was an idea if they didn’t read it). Others send forms to fill out and return to their legal department with the proposal.
Into motorcycles? Steer your mouse to the Suzuki website. And should you ever come up with an idea to make a product safer, be sure to contact an attorney and legally protect it before you tell anyone or Write The Company.
